A high-level intro to information architecture and using custom post types + taxonomies in WordPress.

1. INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
FOR NORMAL
PEOPLE
GROWING BEYOND POSTS, PAGES, CATEGORIES
AND TAGS

2. HI!
I’M MARY FRAN
I’m UX designer at Orbit
Media. I just happen to be
a super nerd with a love
of WordPress, gluten-free
cupcakes, blogging and
tap dance.

3. WHAT
THIS
TALK
IS NOT

4. WHAT
THIS
TALK
IS NOT

5. add_action( ‘init’, ‘create_
post_type’ );
function create_post_type()
{
register_post_type(
‘wordcamp_chicago’,
array(
‘labels’ => array(
‘name’ => __(
‘WordCamps’ ),
‘singular_name’ =>
__( ‘WordCamp’ )
),
‘public’ => true,
‘has_archive’ => true,
)
);
}
WHAT
THIS
TALK
IS NOT

6. INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE

7. help users understand:
 where they are
 what they’ve found
 what’s around
 what to expect
W H A T

8.  informs the content strategy
 informing user interface design
 collaboration with all team members
H O W

9. important skillz, man!
 UX and other disciplines
 content strategy
 technical writing
 library science
 interaction design
W H Y

10. and the obvious,
better data!
W H Y

11. VOCABULARY

12. A T A X O N O M Y I S
a scheme of classification.

13. Y O U U S E D T H E M W H E N
you took high school biology

14. Y O U U S E T H E M W H E N
you binge on Netflix

15. Y O U U S E T H E M W H E N
you shop for shoes online

16. Y O U U S E T H E M W H E N
you go to the library

17. A P O S T - T Y P E I S
a piece of content with unique
attributes

18. WORDPRESS
DEFAULTS

19. P O S T
a piece of content with unique meta
data and attributes that WordPress
organizes into a time-based feed

20. P A G E
content that doesn’t fit in a feed and is
less dependent on time

21. C A T E G O R Y
a hierarchical taxonomy for posts in
WordPress

22. CATEGORIES
ARE
BUCKETS!
CONTENT GOES IN ONE AT A TIME!

23. T A G
a non-hierarchical taxonomy for posts
in WordPress

24. POST
TYPE
post
format
V E R S U S

25. CUSTOM
POST
TYPES

26. H O W T O D E F I N E T H E M
 identify data points
 what’s different from other post-
types?
 structured data vs. WYSIWYG fields
 what are your outliers?

27. W P F E A T U R E S
 flexible meta boxes
 create via code or plugin
 unique and/or shared taxonomies

28. W P F E A T U R E S
to
∞
and


29. CUSTOM
TAXONOMIES

30. HIERARCHICAL
NON-HIERARCHICAL
V E R S U S

31. W H A T ’ S I N A T A X O N O M Y
 what post types are they for?
 hierarchical or no?
 does it add value or noise?
 does it have meta data?

32. MY PROCESS

33. S P R E A D S H E E T O F D O O M
unfortunately, you can’t just “sonic” it.

35. A W E B O F L O V E
LOCATIONS
SERVICES
BLOG
CATEGORIES
TAGS
REGIONS
FEATURES

36. PLUGINS &
TOOLS
ARE
OUR
FRIENDS

37. S O M E T O O L S F O R Y O U
 Jetpack
 Custom Post Type UI
 Generate WP

38. THANK
YOU
@maryfran
hello@maryfranwiley.com
MARYFRANWILEY.COM/WCCHI16